Archive for the 'Comedy' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

In case you were starting to wonder, seeing as April Fool’s Day is less than a month away: Yes, KROQ’s annual night of laughs for charity is returning. But just like Almost Acoustic Christmas, the cavalcade of stand-up comics has had to relocate given the demolition of its former host, Gibson Amphitheatre.

Naturally, Kevin & Bean’s April Foolishness has followed its larger musical counterpart to a new home: the Shrine Auditorium, where the fifth edition of the event will take place April 5.

Jim Jefferies, Patton Oswalt and onetime KROQ personality Adam Carolla top a bill that also will include turns from Tim Minchin, Marc Maron, Doug Benson, Eddie Ifft and Taylor Williamson. Mike Relm will provide house music.

Tickets go on sale Friday, March 14, at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.com. Proceeds this year will benefit Fisher House and Cedars-Sinai NICU.

As one of music legend Brian Wilson’s daughters, co-founder of ’90s pop trio Wilson Phillips (with younger sister Wendy and lifelong friend Chynna Phillips), a former television talk show host, a motivational speaker for those struggling with morbid obesity, an author and a reality TV regular, Wilson has long been in the spotlight.

“When you live life like that, so publicly, what’s to be embarrassed about?” the 45-year-old asks rhetorically during a phone chat last week. Known for her big voice and personality, her sometimes outlandish behavior and up-and-down struggle with weight, Wilson has just put together her first one-woman show, debuting Sunday evening at the Irvine Improv.

“I have a lot of great stories and they’re really funny,” she shares, “like what happened to me after losing a bunch of weight, my time at Weight Watchers camp – which I call fat camp – and I’ll talk about posing for Playboy and my experience there. My goal with this, and in life, is to just get everyone to open up, not take things too seriously. We have to be able to laugh at ourselves.”

Festival Supreme, the music and comedy event from the minds of Jack Black and Kyle Gass (aka Tenacious D), is a brilliant concept that could have been an all-time great gathering worth emulating. Yet, like many multiple-stage concerts that have come through Southern California the past few months – most notably Rock the Bells and Station to Station – the D’s attempt sadly proved again that the best talent can’t save a bold idea if the logistics of seeing them are muffed.

The last things you should be thinking about after spending all day at a live performance are the practicality of the venue and the execution of the event. But walking up to the Santa Monica Pier Saturday evening and seeing a line extend up the incline to the entrance of the massive landmark, then continue down the street and wrap back underneath the pier, well, you didn’t need to go inside to know something was wrong.

Issued here were many and often major. A mistake on the event’s map, for instance, placed toilets not where people thought they would be, and getting to the actual bathroom area was nearly impossible given the bottlenecking in primary paths.

One tented stage, dubbed Club Intimacy, was located farthest to the end of the pier. To access it, patrons had to finish any beverages, leave the main festival grounds and wait in another huge line, only to be stuffed into the always-at-capacity space. As a result of such isolation, sought-after comics like Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt, Demitri Martin and more were not only unseen by most, they seemed like acts at an entirely different festival.

Dave Chappelle is an easy target. Yes, he had a meltdown and walked away from a $50 million contract. Sure, he skipped town and went to South Africa, gave up stand-up for a while and quit his popular Chappelle's Show on Comedy Central in 2006. But at least he can laugh about it now.

The first Funny or Die Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival – a touring event hosted by Jeff Ross and featuring performances by, among others, New Zealand musical-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, Australian Jim Jefferies, Al Madrigal of The Daily Show, Chris D’Elia of Whitney and Workaholics and Demetri Martin – hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Chappelle. As he noted during his set Sunday night at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, he knows people are turning out to see if he snaps.

“I got booed in Hartford,” the 40-year-old comic said of a recent headline-grabbing turn in Connecticut, taking another long drag from a cigarette. “It happens.”

Yet here, before an attentive and supportive audience (some of whom found themselves swiftly ejected for trying to capture the show via their smartphones), Chappelle was cool, collected and, most importantly, confident. Whether sharing previously worked-out bits or taking risks on something new by riffing about his life, he stood by his material, smiling away while exercising his signature timing and control.

Joe Sib is a multitasking machine. During our interview last week at SideOneDummy Records in Los Angeles – an independent label he and longtime friend Bill Armstrong founded in 1995 – he was conducting day-to-day business, running up and down the stairs between his office and the in-house recording studio where he tapes Complete Control, a punk rock radio show that airs at 10 p.m. Sundays on 98.7 FM, planning time out with his family and chatting about his budding career as a stand-up comic all at once.

As we finally settle down in a small patio area with a fresh pot of coffee, he shares how he keeps it all straight: a well-worn composition notebook filled with random notes. It comes complete with a monthly calendar that has his schedule: scoping out new bands for the label, release dates, an upcoming live taping of his Bare Bones Show at the Viper Room, his mother's birthday, a school event with his kids. Circled numerous times in ink is his very first headlining comedy gig, Wednesday at the Irvine Improv.

"I just love learning about the world of comedy," the 47-year-old says sincerely. "I am only four years into it, so I'm a baby in this game, and the fact that I get to headline in Irvine, that's amazing. I like watching guys like Dom Irrera or Greg Behrendt, or younger comics like Matt Braunger or Chris D'Elia – it's just such an art. I want that and it's inspiring, so I've been working on new material."

Sib is certainly no stranger to the bright spotlight and a microphone. He's been in bands since his early teens, including '90s outfit Wax and punk rock supergroup 22 Jacks, which also featured Steve Soto of the Adolescents and Jose Medeles of the Breeders. After realizing his time may be better spent helping other bands along versus going for rock 'n' roll glory on his own, Sib started SideOneDummy, home to Flogging Molly, the Casualties, the Gaslight Anthem, Anti-Flag and Gogol Bordello.

It may look like all fun and games on television, but standup comics Steve Byrne, Ahmed Ahmed, Roy Wood Jr. and Owen Benjamin are working harder than ever to promote their TBS summer comedy "Sullivan & Son."

Executive produced by Byrne with friends and fellow producers Vince Vaughn ("Old School," "Wedding Crashers"), Peter Billingsley ("A Christmas Story," "Iron Man") and show runner Rob Long ("Cheers"), the series was picked up for a second season that debuted June 13.

"It's a huge weight off your shoulders every time you reach another wrung up the ladder, because for all of us involved – the cast, the crew – we all worked so hard on this," Byrne (second from left) says during a recent phone interview.

Along with the other comics, all established headlining acts after decade-plus comedy careers, Byrne has been getting up at 4 a.m. the last three weeks to do as much radio and television promotion as possible, pushing the project they believe in before heading into rehearsals by 10.

Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who comprise the comedy act and self-proclaimed “greatest rock band in the world” Tenacious D, stopped by KROQ's Kevin & Bean Show Monday morning to reveal details of a new event: Festival Supreme.

In addition to the D itself, the daylong comedy and music bash will feature top-draw names such as Sarah Silverman, Zach Galifianakis, Eric Idle and Demetri Martin; comedy bands like the Gregory Brothers and Garfunkel & Oates; the Mr. Show Experience, including creators Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, who provided Tenacious D breaks early in the duo's career; and a rare stage appearance from Adam Sandler.

“No one’s ever done a really great comedy festival in L.A.," Black (above, right) tells the New York Times, "which is really weird, because, no offense to New York, but they’re all here. They’re all just sitting here working and waiting for a festival to happen. We’re like the guys who invented the ShamWow. We’re not talking rocket science. We’re just like, ‘How come there’s no ShamWow?’ Now the ShamWow’s here and we’re geniuses.”

The festival, curated by Black and Gass, takes place Oct. 19 on the Santa Monica Pier. In all, 25 comedians and musicians will perform on four different stages.

Knocking 'em dead with high energy and hilarious moves. Photo: Kelly A. Swift, for the Register

Brad Williams has come a long way since the days of entertaining peers between classes at Sunny Hills High School. As one of the featured comics at the KROQ's fourth sold-out Kevin & Bean April Foolishness show Saturday night at Gibson Amphitheatre, Williams' mid-event set absolutely killed.

The 29-year-old stand-up star, born with achondroplasia (a type of dwarfism), gave a mighty performance, winning the crowd over almost instantly by shaking his money-maker to House of Pain's "Jump Around."

Hardcore KROQ listeners are familiar with Williams as he often fills in for the Kevin & Bean Show's Ralph Garman. Yet it was more than his physical comedy that got laughs; his material was also on point.

'I don't get tired of hearing it,' the comedian says of his famous catchphrase 'here's your sign.'

For Bill Engvall, aging has just become more fodder for his stand-up routine. Sure, some of it is embarrassing, but the 55-year-old comic says he's willing to put it all out there because it's sure to be relatable and bound to get laughs.

Since issuing his last album, 2009's Aged and Confused, Engvall has experienced a new batch of life's many joys, which he shares in a fresh act at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach on Saturday (March 23).

"Well, I'm even older now," he says, letting out a sarcastic sigh, during a recent phone interview. "It's been fun and interesting to write, and it focuses on how I'm now viewing life through eyes that require bifocals."

The comedian and Ultimate Fighting Championship personality stops by City National Grove of Anaheim on Friday night with an all-new stand-up set, then heads up the street to Honda Center on Saturday afternoon to provide color commentary for UFC 157. That event pits Dan Henderson against Lyoto Machida, Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar, and UFC’s first-ever women’s title fight between bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and top contender Liz Carmouche.

Rogan lives in L.A. with his wife and children but says he’d love to move to Orange County. The 45-year-old makes the trek frequently, whether to visit friends, perform at the Irvine Improv or take the kids to Disneyland. But the thought of miles of brake lights on a freeway commute back and forth for work makes him crazy.